Block-based data storage systems conventionally include programming and hardware structures to provide block based access to storage volumes. Such systems typically support Fibre Channel, iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), and/or other block-based protocols. With any of these block-based protocols, a data storage system may receive IO (input/output) requests from “hosts,” i.e., computing devices accessing the data storage system, where the IO requests (also called “host IOs”) specify locations to be read from or written to in the form of LUN identifiers (logical unit number, or volume) and particular offset ranges relative to the LUNs. For responding to IOs that specify read requests, the data storage system typically maps the specified LUNs and offsets to particular locations on disk drives or electronic flash drives, reads the data stored at the mapped locations, and returns the data to the hosts. For responding to IOs that specify write requests, the data storage system performs similar mappings, but writes the data to the designated locations. The IO requests may return results indicating whether the write requests succeeded or failed. An example of a block-based data storage system which operates in a manner similar to that described above is the CLARiiON® system from EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass.
File-based data storage systems are also known in the art. These systems include programming and hardware structures to provide file based access to file systems. File-based data storage systems are sometimes referred to as NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems. Such systems typically support NFS (Network File System), CIFS (Common Internet File System), SMB (Server Message Block), and/or other file-based protocols. With file-based protocols, hosts can issue read and write IO requests by specifying particular file systems, paths, and file names. Internally to the data storage system, file system directories map the files specified by the host IOs to particular sets of blocks on internal volumes, which themselves are derived from disk drives or electronic flash drives. The data storage system accesses the mapped locations and performs the requested reads or writes. An example of a file-based data storage system which operates in a manner similar to that described above is the Celerra® system from EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass.